Health Needs Thyme

Health Needs Thyme Herbalist and Naturopathic Health Coach. Fanatical about Wild Tea, Nature Bathing and Quality Chocolate!

Home-educator and AuDHDer with a passion for promoting Wellbeing for Neurodiverdent Minds.

30/04/2026

On the eve of Beltane, blossoming hawthorn trees can be seen everywhere, even beside my garden. This is the 30th and last day of my Wild Tea journey and leaving the house felt like a pilgrimage. I walked slowly uphill drawn towards a secluded wild spot with boughs hanging low creating shelter, or perhaps a gateway to the faerie realm.

The opening is an invitation to nourish the spirit and we do that by celebrating with friends outdoors with music and dancing, or simply just sitting in the company of nature.

Hawthorn both opens the heart and strengthens it. It dilates coronary arteries, which means the heart muscle will receive more oxygen and nutrients allowing it to work at its optimum.The strength of contraction is increased so that more blood leaves the heart to serve the body with each pump. This reduces the heart rate and lowers stress.

Where there is tension in the arteries of the body, hawthorn relaxes the muscles in the vessel wall to lower high blood pressure. It also tones the inner wall, increasing structural integrity of the vessels. So it both relaxes tension and tones laxity, improving structure and thus function.

It can be take long term and works best this way. It also contains very high levels of flavonoids that act as free radical scavengers. Hawthorn is a strategy to prevent age related degeneration and heart disease.

It has a scent that some love and some do not. In the cup the flowers go brown and remind me of cherry blossom tea. The taste is ever-so mildly almond, fresh with some slight sweetness and astringency. Similar to apple perhaps.

I felt honoured ending my journey in the company of hawthorn. We sat together on the hill as the sun rose above the tree tops. I could see many spots where I’d taken tea with different plants over the past 30 days. Bathing in nature bliss. This months Wild Teas have nourished my soul!

29/04/2026

Walnut leaf tea is one of my favourites. It has a floral resinous scent when picked, rubbed, broken or made into tea. The taste is aromatic, kind of antiseptic-like, bitter and astringent. I used one small newly opened compound leaf with 7 leaflets. They were reddish before I poured the water and instantly lost their colour when the hot water hit them. When they are fully mature, one leaflet per pot is plenty, at which point they are the length of my hand.

Walnut hulls have been processed for use as an antiparasitic for at least 200 years. They release a chemical called juglone when damaged or decomposing. If you have collected fresh walnuts you will know they have a hard green outer layer that softens and shrivels and goes black with time. This contains the most juglone and when collecting will dye fingers as well as henna for a few days.

The leaves are milder medicine than the hulls and some English walnut trees may not contain juglone, but may contain salicylic acid depending on variety and conditions. As well as treating parasitic worm infestations, bacterial overgrowths and fungal infections internally, the antiseptic nature of a wash made from the tea will help prevent infections in the skin. Adding to this, the tannins act to tighten and reduce inflammation to aid healing.

The red anthocyanins are present in the young leaves of English walnut as they are late to come into leaf. These flavonoids act to protect the delicate new leaves from the sun as we move from spring into summer.

Along with other herbs like wormwood, black walnut formed part of a huge industry that processed vast amounts traditionally used as a worm killer before the arrival of synthetic wormers. Interestingly, the overuse of the synthetic treatment in farming has caused some resistance similar to the arrival of antibiotic resistance. Organic farmers are choosing natural alternatives and in our health food shops we can buy our own natural antiparasitic supplements, many of which contain black walnut hulls as an ingredient.

28/04/2026

My husband is the gardener of a large estate and this morning I decided to cycle to work with him to sit with a ginkgo in a less public space. Ginkgo trees are planted as ornamentals in cities as they are very resilient having survived through millions of years of environmental stress including ice-ages and nuclear bombs. They are prehistoric, once eaten by dinosaurs.

I always thought the leaves look like fairy wings. The Latin “bi-loba” means two lobed. They are the shape of a brain viewed across the frontal plane showing the left and right hemispheres.

Ginkgo is a popular supplement for brain health. It is sold as a standardised extract to maximise flavones and minimise ginkgolic acids. As a cognition enhancer it improves mental focus, learning and memory through stimulating blood circulation to the head. The brain receives more oxygen and nutrients, as well as protection from oxidative damage due to its high antioxidant activity.

It can help treat and prevent Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Raynaud’s syndrome, dizziness, vertigo and macular degeneration all due to its positive effect on circulation. It also enhances tissue perfusion and promotes healing. As a PAF-inhibitor, (Platelet Aggravating Factor), it is added to asthma mixes to help reduce airway constriction, inflammation and mucous.

A colleague of my husband arrived to work as I was sat under the tree. I told her about the wonders of ginkgo and she asked, “how long do you have to sit under it?” I absolutely loved this idea! Indeed, how long sitting under a tree before we start to enjoy greater cognitive performance? A beautiful reminder again that the medicine of nature bathing is indeed enough to sooth our nervous systems and sharpen our mental acuity. No tech. Just out in the green and blue!

I enjoyed the fresh gentle taste of the tea which to me included very mild astringency, sweetness and tartness. It is advised not to eat raw leaves, to avoid if taking blood thinners and to stop taking two weeks before surgery. In China they also use the seeds medicinally.

27/04/2026

The day is summery with blue and yellow butterflies, bright blue sky and scorching sunshine.

Elderflower clusters sit atop the cliffside trees open to the suns rays. The lower down clusters are still tightly closed in bud. But it won’t be long. Soon the frothy white sprays will be dotting the hedgerows and filling the air with the scent of summer.

When fully attentive to the taste sensations, elderflower is more than simply floral. It is sweet as well as sour, with a texture that is smooth and dry. Volatile oils help reduce the microbial load. The sourness suggests vitamin C. Mucilage is sweet and silky, a quality best drawn out by cold water. Leaving it to go cold will increase the viscosity that will sooth the throat. The cooling drying quality is partly owed to tannins and flavonoids.

Flavonoids are antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral and diaphoretic. The latter means it induces sweating to cool the body in a fever by bringing peripheral vessels closer to the surface and relaxing the pores of the skin. Particularly effective as a hot tea.

Elderflower tea is a very supportive remedy in the early stages of a cold or flu. It gives a boost to the immune system and in particular, reduces an excessively runny nose and relieves the pain of sinusitis. It is a valuable ingredient in hay fever teas, often combined with nettle and plantain. Gently drying with the soothing protection of a little mucilage.

Elderflower can be preserved as a cordial for all year round enjoyment. But my favourite by far is fresh and wild, straight from the tree to teacup! As a late spring/early summer blossomer, you are sure to see some soon. It has a lingering and distinctive taste of summer.

26/04/2026

Dandelion feels like such a humble herb for me. A w**d stamped on and stamped out, and yet so resilient and sunny. It just keeps on shining its rays with absolute faith in nature. It is a spring tonic herb that helps us release toxins and absorb nutrients. Cleansing and fortifying.

The whole plant is both diuretic and bitter, with the leaves being more diuretic and the roots more bitter. Bitters stimulate the taste receptors on the tongue which directly stimulates the digestive organs via nerve pathways. There is a French custom of eating rocket salad before a meal to prepare the system to recieve. This means the breakdown of our food is more effective allowing us to gain more nutrients.

Dandelion also adds it own nutrition as it’s densely packed with vitamins and minerals like iron, potassium, calcium, magnesium, vitamin K and folate. In fact, there is so much potassium, that even though it is lost through its diuretic action, the end result is a net increase! (This cannot be said of conventional diuretics).

Waste removal is improved by supporting the action of the kidneys, liver and bowel. Water soluble elements via the urine and fat soluble by the liver. An example of fat soluble toxins processed by the liver are stress hormones. If the liver can’t keep up with its detoxification load, they can recirculate and cause menstrual imbalances and skin problems. The skin is an excretory organ only enlisted if the digestive and urinary systems can’t keep up.

Most people know of dandelion root coffee; it gets the bowel going as coffee does. However, it also contains inulin that bulks up the stools. This adds weight and form to decrease transit time. It also draws toxins into the stool for excretion. A sluggish bowel can allow toxins in the stools to be reabsorbed adding to ill health. Healthy flow is synonymous with health.

The flowers are also edible, (but not the stalks which contain irritant latex), they particularly support nervous system health by strengthening and soothing. My tea was very mild in taste so I ate the leaves at the end to get maximum nutritional value.

25/04/2026

Venturing out in the early morning frost again seems bizarre after the 20 degree heat of yesterday afternoon. Spring can be so contrasting.

My tea today also has some seemingly contrasting effects. As a balancer, it treats according to need. Which sounds far-fetched until the mechanism of action is understood. It is a general tonic, with particular affinity for the blood vessels, which of course serve everything.

Where there is laxity, such as in varicose veins, it will tone them and where there is tension, such as in hypertension, it will relax them. It does this by acting on tissue layers. The inner layer of veins are toned and strengthened, and where there is tension in the muscular layer of arteries, they are re-laxed.

This balancing action works in the pelvic area as well. Drinking yarrow over time will strengthen and tone the uterus. Improving structure also improves function and so periods can become normalised. And where there is excess menstrual bleeding, it will close off the tiny capillaries to reduce flow, and yet if a period is slow to start due to congestion, it will bring on the flow and ease the associated pain.

This blood vessel affect can also be employed to a reduce fever. As a peripheral dilator it brings vessels closer to the surface of the skin to be cooled.

I have come to love starting my day with a Wild Tea ritual. It meets my need for gentle entry into the day. Quiet awe and reverence for nature and this new day. At least quiet from human busy-ness; the woodpecker and pigeon soundscape told another story!

24/04/2026

A chilly start to the day, edging and curling the leaves with frost. There is mist on the horizon and my breath in moist white puffs as I exhale. As the sun continues its ascent, rays make their way through the canopy to my little teacup as it sits atop an aged and furrowed mossy limb of an old willow tree.

I cut a new growth twig about 7mm diameter. It’s yellow and peels easily to reveal a moist and smooth inner bark. I then proceed to peel off the tough outer layer so that only the inner bark remains for my tea. This is where the stronger stuff lives and exposing it fully helps it infuse into my tea. I also pop in a few young leaves, weaker in taste and action, but adds a satisfying beauty to the cup.

Willow is nature’s aspirin. It was used in the very first human clinical trial in the late 1900’s. Take it for lowing a fever, reducing headache and easing joint pain. It is not just one isolated chemical that creates the desired effect. Salicylic acid is one component, there are others such as tannins that tighten and tone and bring an antimicrobial action.

Flavonoids that reduce oxidative damage and protect and strengthen capillaries, increasing their flexibility. This means that inflammation and associated pain is reduced through the synergistic action of the plant constituents.

The taste is variable depending widely on the species and its conditions. Today my tea is very bitter with the salicin only just detectable. The tea doesn’t have a scent but the fresh leaves are ever so gently floral. I recommend taking your tea to taste, however is most agreeable to you. Its a general rule of thumb to guide your dosage.

CAUTIONS: Avoid on blood thinners and do not take in aspirin allergy or if pregnant.

23/04/2026

After trains and buses and a walk down a country track, bordered by bright yellow rapeseed fields under a bright yellow sun, I knew I wanted something cooling. Cleavers seemed the obvious choice. Amazingly my flask of hot water stayed hot, always on standby for my wild tea moment.

Cleavers is a remedy that brings relief to any hot condition. Such as tonsilitis or covid, as well as digestive inflammation and cystitis. It is best as a cold infusion, simply pop it in your water bottle, or better still, cut up a handful into a pan, add cold water and mash with a potato masher to maximise juice extraction. Leave overnight then strain and drink first thing in the morning, or refrigerate for drinking throughout the day.

You will notice it has a succulent juicy stem which can also be juiced if chopped first to avoid stringing up the blender. The juice can be frozen in ice-cube trays for using as a morning vitalizer rubbed directly on the skin. As well as being toning, it is encourages tissue healing which is helpful in skin conditions like acne and eczema.

Cleavers water is a well known spring tonic that gets the lymphatic system flowing and draining. This is especially helpful after the winter where we are all more sedentary and have probably come down with a cold or two. Encouraging the movement of lymph means that any left over debris, such as dead pathogens and inflammatory waste that are still hanging around in the glands can be cleared out, like a spring clean. Some even liken the plant to a broom or duster that freshens up.

Drinking cleavers feels very revitalizing. To be regarded as a spring tonic, a herb must be cleansing as well as fortifying. It detoxifies via the kidneys and adds strength via action of flavonoids, iridoids, tannins and minerals like silica. One caution I will add is to not swallow the leaves as they can stick to the throat which is quite unpleasant... she says from personal experience.

22/04/2026

I have to say the wind really wasn’t enticing me to get out and about this morning so I decided to hang out in the garden instead. I have all sorts of “w**ds” growing, some I introduced and some that have just sprung up. I’ve invited cleavers, nettle, dandelion, herb Robert, violets and plantain to live in my garden. It was plantain I decided to take tea with this time.

I picked both narrowleaf and broadleaf plantain. The broadleaf has sprouted up along the route from our gate to our caravan, as they like to grow on well trodden ground. The narrowleaf seems to have nestled into the boarder with the lemon balm. The wind cooled my tea pretty swiftly which was helpful as it brought out the sweet taste of the mucilaginous quality best extracted by cold water. It also made it smooth and silky like linden and mallow. It is a mild pleasant tea with a slight astringency.

Plantain is well known as a wild styptic. Applied directly onto an open wound it helps staunch bleeding and reduce inflammation whilst the antiseptic action helps prevent infection. Zinc and other constituents work well with poorly healing wounds, both internally and externally, toning and strengthening tissue generally to improve function.

Broadleaf is also well used for cystitis with blood in the urine, while narrowleaf is a valuable ingredient in hay fever tea. They have a drying action that reduces nasal secretions, and at the same time provide a protective demulcent layer to prevent further damage and allow for healing.

21/04/2026

I wanted to see if a little field edged by a C-shaped river was still abundant in meadowsweet. It was a bit of a trek, first by bike then on foot, even leaping across a narrow part to the stream down in a ditch. There were other waterside loving plants like big crowns of comfrey and tiny new shoots of horsetail. I know that spaces left to wild can house successive species depending on how the neighbouring species, soil, space and light change, so I had no idea if meadowsweet would have moved out since my last visit.

It was a different sight to that of my memory, as those that greeted me were still very little and new. I remember walking into a mature colony of meadowsweet that was at least up to my waist. That would have been in full summer when they were in flower. Fluffy cream clusters of tiny flowers; the strongest part of the plant medicinally.

The scent of meadowsweet can be detected the moment a leaf or stem is broken. It isn’t strong, only very distinctive. Many people describe it as “medicinal”. Of all the salicylate wild teas, this is the only one that clearly tastes like aspirin. It is also slightly sweet and mildly astringent.

Meadowsweet can be used in the same way you would use aspirin; to reduce inflammation, temperature and pain. This includes headache, body aches and joint aches, such as in ‘flu. It is also an effective hangover cure. It’s main use is as an antacid treating reflux and ulcers anywhere in the digestive tract. It is useful in ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s and IBS.

The astringency and anti-inflammatory action supports tissue healing and the carminative nature of the volatile oils relieve trapped wind. The antiseptic, diuretic and pain relieving quality helps treat cystitis.

At this size, which was about the size of my hand, the most distinguishing feature was the red stem and the tiny pairs of stemless leaves growing between each large pair of leaves. Like little leaf babies.

20/04/2026

I always cut the top 4-6 leaves per plant for my teacup. Even without chopping it up the strength of the nettle came through in my tea instantly. The fresh tops are best for foraging as the stinging hairs are still small. When they get older and larger, (being made of silica), they can be irritant to the kidneys. Nettles are highly nutritious. They have deep taproots that form an extensive network. This means they can access minerals from deep within the soil that most plants cannot reach. I like to make an iron tonic using nettles as the primary ingredient. It is more effective than off-the-shelf supplements because it comes ready packaged with a whole host of other nutrients that improve the absorption of the iron. Improving the iron status of blood improves the oxygen carrying capacity which translates as more energy. This is helpful to anyone, but particularly for those with anaemia, pregnant and breastfeeding mums, athletes and those in recovery. Nettle makes a great convalescent tonic as it helps the body regain its strength after depletion. It also improves detoxification via the kidneys aiding the removal of wastes products of everyday metabolism as well as that caused by injury or infection. Joint and skin health is improved by the removal of toxins that can aggravate them. Nettle also has an affinity for the pelvic area and its styptic action will support a reduction in heavy menstruation. The minerals have wide reaching effects with calcium and magnesium supporting the nervous system, magnesium aiding the relaxation of muscles, and calcium, silica and boron strengthening bones. Plant-derived histamine is weaker than the body’s natural histamine. Consuming it blocks histamine receptors, decreasing the body’s own histamine production and alleviating inflammation and hay fever symptoms.

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